NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The triumphant true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion “The gift Elizabeth Letts has is that she makes you feel you are the one taking this trip. This is a book we can enjoy always but especially need now.”—Elizabeth Berg, author of The Story of Arthur Truluv In 1954, sixty-three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor’s advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men’s dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. Annie had little idea what to expect beyond her rural crossroads; she didn’t even have a map. But she did have her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness. Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, rode straight into a world transformed by the rapid construction of modern highways. Between 1954 and 1956, the three travelers pushed through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by them at terrifying speeds. Annie rode more than four thousand miles, through America’s big cities and small towns. Along the way, she met ordinary people and celebrities—from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers—a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher. In a decade when car ownership nearly tripled, when television’s influence was expanding fast, when homeowners began locking their doors, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.

From the best way to break in a pair of stiff new boots to mastering a difficult jumping routine, Jessica Jahiel addresses hundreds of common problems facing amateur horse-riders. Offering helpful tips and plenty of encouragement, this comprehensive guide covers a wide range of riding concerns that include both physical (painful joints) and psychological (fear of accidents) issues. Jahiel’s informal yet informative approach will not only help you overcome nagging riding obstacles, but inspire you to enjoy your riding experience to its fullest.

Do You Want to Ride to 100—and Beyond? BIKE FOR LIFE! Now with training plans, worldwide adventures, and more than 200 photos Ride a century when you turn a century: that was the promise Bike for Life offered when it was first published. A decade later, this blueprint for using cycling to achieve exceptional longevity, fitness, and overall well-being has helped tens of thousands of cyclists to ride longer and stronger. Now, nationally-known fitness journalist and lifelong endurance road and mountain biker Roy M. Wallack builds upon his comprehensive Bike for Life plan with even more practical tips and strategies to keep you riding to 100—and beyond. Fully updated, revised, and illustrated, Bike for Life features: - Cutting-edge workout strategies for achieving best-ever fitness at any age - Science-based 8- and 16-week Century training schedules - A radical new workout method that'll make you fly up the hills - An anti-aging plan to revive muscularity, strength, and reaction time - An exclusive 10-step Yoga for Cyclists routine - Strategies to fix "cyclist's knee" and "biker's back" - Advice on avoiding cycling-related impotence and osteoporosis - Ways to survive mountain lions, bike-jackers, poison ivy, and headwinds - Handling skills and bike-fit advice from famous coaches - Tips on staying motivated with worldwide adventures and challenges - The Bike for Life hall of fame: stories of amazing riders in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and up With oral-history interviews and profiles of the biggest names of the sport, including: John Howard, Gary Fisher, Rebecca Rusch, Ned Overend, Tinker Juarez, Juli Furtado, Marla Streb, Missy Giove, Johnny G, Eddie B, Mike Sinyard, and Rich "The Reverend" White.

First published in 1959, The Way to Perfect Horsemanship was immediately recognized as a classic work of equestrian literature. It offers insight into the psychology of the horse as well as its muscular system and the mechanics of movement. It explains in detail the basic principles of training, the fundamentals of riding, and the effect of training aids. Everyone, from trainers to occasional riders, will benefit from this book.

This book is not a training manual with step-by-step instructions. It is instead an honest, sometimes funny, and sometimes awkward window into the journey of horsewoman Amy Skinner. It prompts the reader to ask themselves questions, to evaluate and think a bit differently.The book will take you through the messy parts of our personal lives with humor, insight, and a little discomfort. It offers support and connection to those who have felt alone in their struggles. It will help readers find strength from struggle, and sensitivity from the harsh and ugly realities we experience.This book will also take you through the eyes of a horse - what they need, how they feel, and how we can best support them. By finding balance in our personal lives and within ourselves, we can cultivate something truly valuable to offer to a horse.

Retired park warden Dale Portman lived his dream of riding the range for a living in the spectacular Canadian Rockies. His exhilarating tales take us to an Old West world of wild horses and hair-raising roundups, youthful bravado and larger-than-life characters: Bert, the tough Millarville patriach; Donny and Faye, free-spirited children of the Alberta foothills; and Jim, the eccentric park warden who careens from one potential disaster to another. Filled with humour and adventure, these true stories capture the excitement and danger of backcountry life.

In 1958, when Chana Wilson was seven, her mother attempted suicide, holding a rifle to her own head and pulling the trigger. The gun jammed and she was taken away to a mental hospital. On her return, Chana became the caretaker of her heavily medicated, suicidal mother. It would be many years before she learned the secret of her mother’s anguish: her love affair with another married woman, and the psychiatric treatment aimed at curing her of her lesbianism. Riding Fury Home spans forty years of the intense, complex relationship between Chana and her mother—the trauma of their early years together, the transformation and joy they found when they both came out in the 1970s, and the deep bond that grew between them. From the intolerance of the '50s to the exhilaration of the women’s movement of the '70s and beyond, the book traces the profound ways in which their two lives were impacted by the social landscape of their time. Exquisitely written and devastatingly honest, Riding Fury Home is a shattering account of one family’s struggle against homophobia and mental illness—and a powerful story of healing, forgiveness, and redemption.